Club juggling
Clubs are roughly cylindrical objects, usually around 20 inches long, with a slim handle end, and a center of balance nearer the wider "body" end. They are often referred to as "pins" by non-jugglers due to their resemblance to bowling pins. However, the two vary greatly in construction, weight and weight distribution, and are not interchangeable for most purposes. Clubs are normally thrown so that they rotate at least once while in the air (with the top of the club rotating toward the juggler). Higher throws are usually done with more rotations. It is also possible to throw flats, which mean pushing the handle up as the club is thrown to prevent it from spinning at all. Taken further, reverse spins can be thrown, causing the club to rotate in the opposite direction. Clubs are more difficult to juggle than balls or rings. Sticks are harder to run than normal clubs, but easier for flashing high numbers. The Juggling Information Service Committee on Numbers Juggling (JISCON) recognizes sticks as a type of club that may be used for numbers records. The basic pattern for a number of clubs is normally done with each throw rotating half as many times as the number of clubs being juggled, rounding down for odd numbers: 3 clubs are done with single rotations, 4 and 5 are done with doubles, 6 and 7 are done with triples. Any higher or lower number of rotations is usually considered a more difficult trick. The highest number of clubs that have been qualified (at least twice as many catches as objects) is 8 (by Anthony Gatto). So far, no one has flashed (same number of throws and catches as objects) more than 8 normal clubs, but the highest number of sticks that have been flashed is 9. 3 clubs thumb|400px|left|3 club competition routines at [[WJF 6]] Since clubs are more difficult than balls and rings, even high-level technical jugglers who mainly focus on higher numbers with other props generally spend time working on tricks with 3 clubs as well as higher numbers. The IJA had its first 3 club performance competition in 2004 (winner: Ivan Pecel). 3 was the minimum number of clubs allowed in WJF competition routines at all levels until 2007. The intermediate and advanced competitions are now only for 4 and 5 clubs respectively. The WJF overall championship currently includes two competitions for 3 clubs: 360s (most 3 up 360s in 1 minute; held since 2004), and freestyle (held since 2006). At first the 3 club freestyle competition was a "best trick" contest like the other freestyle competitions, but in 2008 it was changed to the 1 minute routine format originally used for the WJF freestyle competitions. The world record for 3 clubs is 1 hour, 47 minutes, and 7 seconds by Michael Geddes (video - record from IJDb). 4 clubs thumb|400px|left|4 club tricks by [[Josh Horton]] 4 was the minimum number of clubs used in the WJF advanced club short program in 2008; since 2010 that competition is for 5 clubs only. The WJF overall championship included a 4 club freestyle competition in 2006 (winner: Wes Peden) and 2007 (winner: Malte Peter). In 2011 the WJF had a 4 club freestyle competition that was not part of the overall championship (winner: Lauge Benjaminsen). The WJF also has an intermediate level 4 club short program. The unofficial world record for 4 clubs (not validated by any world record organizations; no publicly available video) is 1 hour, 5 minutes, and 28 seconds by Luis Niño Villesca (record from IJDb). 5 clubs thumb|400px|left|5 club 1 minute [[Spins|360s world record by Vova Galchenko]] The WJF advanced club short program has been exclusively for 5 club juggling since 2010. The other 5 club competitions in the overall championship are freestyle (best trick competion; held since 2004), 360s (most 5 up 360s in 1 minute; also held since 2004), and 5 club backcross isolated endurance (endurance contest with competitors standing on chairs to allow only accurate, controlled patterns; held since 2005, part of the overall championship since 2007). The world record for 5 club juggling is 53 minutes and 21 seconds by Thomas Dietz (record from JISCON). 6 clubs ]]6 is now the minimum number of clubs used in the IJA's numbers endurance competition, and was also the minimum number of clubs used in the WJF's numbers endurance competition until 2006. Since 2007 the WJF club endurance competition has started with 7 clubs, and in 2008 the WJF added a 6 club freestyle competition to the overall championship. The 6 club juggling world record is 7 minutes and 38 seconds by Anthony Gatto (Video - 6clubWR-Nov05 - record from JISCON). 7 clubs thumb|400px|left|7 club 7 up [[Spins|360 by Anthony Gatto]] The first person to juggle 7 clubs in the IJA's numbers endurance competition was Anthony Gatto in 1986. 7 is the minimum number of clubs used in the WJF's numbers endurance competition, and the highest number of clubs that have been qualified in any of the numbers endurance competitions at the IJA and the WJF. The WJF overall championship has two other competitions for 7 clubs: freestyle (held since 2008), and isolated endurance (endurance contest with competitors standing on chairs to allow only accurate, controlled patterns; held since 2005, part of the overall championship since 2007). The WJF has also had a 7 club incentive program since 2010, awarding $250 to anyone 15 years old or younger who was able to juggle 7 clubs for 50 catches at a WJF convention. Jack Denger was the first person to win the 7 club incentive program in 2011 at age 14. The world record for 7 clubs is 4 minutes and 23 seconds by Anthony Gatto (record from JISCON). Tricks that have been done with 7 clubs include: *Quads (qualified) (video) *Cascade with club balance (qualified) video *86 (1 round to a qualify) video *966 (1 round to a qualify) video *(8x,6)* (qualified) video of a shorter run *5 up 360 (qualified) video *5 up 180 (qualified) video *7 up 360 (qualified) video *Backcrosses (flashed) video *2 body throws from one side (to qualify) video - 7clubCrotch 8 clubs thumb|400px|left|[[Anthony Gatto video with three 8 club qualifies]] 8 is the highest number of clubs that have been performed on stage. No one has successfully juggled 8 clubs in the numbers endurance competitions at the IJA and the WJF, which require a qualifying run. The following jugglers have all done at least a flash of 8 clubs or similar objects: *Anthony Gatto currently holds the world record for 8 clubs with 16 catches (record from JISCON). The video shows three qualifying runs of an async fountain in triples, each one cleaner than the last, which Anthony says were all accomplished in the same practice session. *Françoise Rochais has flashed 8 batons, which are more difficult than clubs. *Jian Ping Qian (sync quads with badminton rackets) video *Jason Garfield (async triples) video *David Cain (sync fountain with sticks on stage) video *Nikolai Gerasimov (async flat fronts in quads on stage) video *Ben Thompson (async quads) video *Daniel Eaker (quads-triples; siteswap 97) video *Toby Walker (video shows about 11 catches of async triples in columns) 9 sticks thumb|left|400px|9 [[Sticks|stick flash by Bruce Tiemann]]Bruce Tiemann was the first person to flash 9 sticks, in 1996 (video - record from JISCON). This record has since been equaled by Scott Sorensen in 1997 (video), Chris Fowler in 2003 (video), and Daniel Eaker in 2009 (video). So far no one has done more than 9 catches of 9 sticks, flashed 9 normal clubs, or flashed 10 sticks. Category:Props